Was it really necessary? That’s the question echoing around the Hammerhead Crane. It stood tall for decades. Now, let’s explore its story.
The Hammerhead Crane at Garden Island oversaw Sydney for over 60 years. It was a landmark. But in 2014, it was removed.
Why was this giant even built? Back in 1940, Prime Minister Menzies spoke of a larger dry dock. Australia needed to accommodate big warships. They needed to avoid traveling to Singapore for repairs. So, the Captain Cook Dock was built. This required a large crane.
The loss of Singapore to Japan in 1942 accelerated these plans. Sydney became a safer home for a large fleet. Both the dock and the Hammerhead Crane were built to pre-war designs. The dock remains essential, but the crane became obsolete. Ships became smaller. Smaller platforms sufficed.
Construction started in 1944. Sydney Steel Co Pty. Ltd. won the contract. They built it to Sir William Arrol’s design. Mechanical and electrical equipment came from England. There were delays. The Hammerhead Crane was commissioned in February 1952.
This crane shows excellence in mid-20th-century engineering. It maintained battleships. These ships needed large structures to lift heavy machinery. HMAS Australia decommissioned in 1954. Naval use became problematic.
The Hammerhead Crane had intermittent use. From the mid-1950s to mid-1970s, it moved heavy machinery. This equipment went to the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. It supported aircraft carriers. These included HMA Ships Vengeance, Sydney, and Melbourne. In 1988, it lifted stators for power plants. That same year, the Flying Scotsman arrived. The crane lifted it ashore.
The heaviest authenticated lift was 205 tonnes. This was boiler machinery for the Liddell power station in 1968. The final lift was around 1992. The crane was decommissioned but still worked. Much of its machinery was original.
Upon completion, it was among the largest in the southern hemisphere. There were about 60 of this type worldwide. Now, only ten or so remain. Five are in Scotland. One in Singapore was destroyed to prevent its capture by Japan.
The Hammerhead Crane had an asymmetric steel truss boom. It was 83 meters long. Its maximum radius was 40 meters. It swiveled on a square steel truss tower. The tower was 15.2 meters square. It stood 68 meters tall. The machinery house made the total height 61.9 meters. Foundations went 39.3 meters deep.
The maximum lift was 254 tonnes. Two main hooks coupled for this. Each hook had a 90-horsepower motor. There was also a 40.6-tonne auxiliary hook. A smaller hook handled lifting gear. A travelling crane aided maintenance. The test load was 317.5 tonnes. Steelwork totaled 1,422 tonnes. Machinery was 204 tonnes. Electrical equipment was 71.12 tonnes. Approximately 250,000 rivets held it together.
In 2013, its removal was proposed. The National Trust opposed this. They wanted it as a tourist attraction like those in Scotland.
The Hammerhead Crane was a landmark. But its location compromised wharf space. The crane’s story is now an archival recording. It was recorded with 3D scanning. This preserves its memory.